Jackson St. Apartment Proposal Approved at Zoning Committee

Back for a second time, Dermond Property Investments’ request for a change in zoning for the properties 1601 N. Jackson and 522 E. Pleasant, the former Joey’s Restaurant location, from Local Business (LB2) to a Detailed Planned Development (DPD) was once again in front of the Zoning, Neighborhoods & Development Committee. In an attempt to address concerns raised by citizens and council members at previous meetings, the developer made numerous changes to the design, which included an increase in the number of rental units in the proposal, prompting the city process of approvals to started over.

1601 N. Jackson St. Original Design

The design changes addressed issues such as setbacks, massing, and parking. To accomplish this each apartment unit became 10% smaller, and the building was set back 18 feet on the north side, and five feet on the east side. Project Designer, Joel Agacki of Striegel-Agacki Studio, explained that they had “really made an effort to scale the building a bit better,” and soften the building with landscape around the entire perimeter, facade articulation, the use of poured cement panel, and setting the fifth floor back three feet to make the building appear as a 4-story building. The five-story building will have 36 apartments, up from 34-units, 38 parking spaces, 36 spaces for resident to rent at $110 per month, and two spaces for guest use. Speaking about the neighborhood concerns over the potential of new traffic in the neighborhood, Todd Farris, from Dermond Property Investments, explained that the new apartment building (according to the ITE manual) would generate substantially less traffic during the PM rush hour than the former restaurant did while it was in operation.

Alderman Kovac explained that his support for the project wasn’t, “because I was steam rolled”, referring to an earlier debate on the proposed 27th Street project, but that the developer had worked to make it an acceptable project. Alderman Bauman followed up adding that, “I have to say, the developer and the architect were most accommodating… and frankly it was quite refreshing”.

The project was approved by the committee, and will now go before the full Common Council.

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